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COURSE CARE

Rain Rain Stay For Awhile!
February 27, 2015

Rain Rain Stay For Awhile!

By Keith Happ, Senior Agronomist
September 5, 2008

Travels over the last several weeks have offered views of
very dry soils and very thirsty grass. Superintendents have
supplemented irrigation systems by hand watering critical areas
of the golf course. Reservoirs are down and difficult decisions
have had to be made regarding the use of water resources. In
portions of the region, drought restrictions have been enacted.
Voluntary reductions of 10 to 20 percent water use have been
requested. The recent rain from storms out of the Gulf should
help and potentially these requests will be lifted.

After the rains pass through, be on the lookout for areas
that do not respond to precipitation. We are approaching the
time of year when certain white grub populations wreak havoc
with the turf. Foraging animals will be looking for a food
source and the results of their hunts affect playability. There
are eco-friendly products that can be used to deter this
activity. Also, it may be necessary to control the food source
via site specific pest control application. Don't assume the
dry looking turf is just drought stressed; check the
soil/thatch interface for grub activity.

This also is a time of year when many turf managers begin to
prepare their annual turf maintenance budgets. Product costs
have increased. For example, to apply the same amount of
fertilizer used during the 2008 season will require a budget
increase for 2009. Fertilizer costs have been reported as
increasing as much as 150 percent compared to early order
pricing from last season. Some tough decisions may have to be
made. However, it is unrealistic to expect that a zero budget
increase will deliver the same level of conditioning enjoyed
this year. Programs can be adjusted with potentially more
emphasis being placed on the conditioning of the center lines
of the course rather than maintaining pristine rough from tree
line to tree line.

Finally, for those turf managers in the Western Pennsylvania
area, the West Penn Golf Association has sent out its Golf
Maintenance Budget Survey. This survey was developed by a panel
of golf course superintendents. The more who respond, the more
valuable the information becomes. The information will be
categorized allowing for a more reliable comparison when
maintenance budgets are evaluated.